The Coming Storm

It has been a long day, starting off with a discussion with friends over breakfast about using social media for social good, continuing through discussions over dinner about what is being considered by the state legislature. As a backdrop to all of this is the coming storm.

We covered many interesting topics at the breakfast, focusing on certain fundamentals of social media like message and audience. There was probably enough material at that discussion for several good blog posts. We also covered many interesting topics at the dinner, focusing on certain bills that the legislature was considering as well as how people could respond. Like the breakfast, there was enough material for several good blog posts.

Yet with all that, the storm remains in the background.. All ready school for tomorrow has been canceled, as have been several meetings. The lines in stores and at gas stations are long. The storm is a big news story and there is an excited restlessness as people await the storm as well as the accompanying snow day.

Will the storm live up to its hype? Will it be this storm of historic proportions? How well will we handle it? Will there be extended power outages? I remember the excitement of storms when I was a kid, of having the day off to play outside. Now, I think of those struggling to get by. There was the recent count of the homeless. How will they face the storm? I think of the work I'll need to get done, the cold that I feel like I'm fighting off, with the aches, pains, and fatigue. I think of my sister, who was in a car crash during hurricane Sandy and my mother, who died in that crash.

As I try to gather thoughts for the blog post, I search for webpages talking about coming storms. They talk about survival guides and extreme weather. Some talk about the effect climate change has had on weather patterns. Others talk about the importance of gold, silver and real assets in facing storms. Then, there coming storms within religious traditions, up to and including apocalyptical storms.

My friends who are interested in meteorology talk about different computer models to predict the weather. We didn't have these models when I was young. We didn't have social media to share our thoughts and experiences.

Yet I've written enough about the storm. It is time to rest so that when the time comes, I'll have the energy to persevere.